Comment by Winnie Johnson
In recent decades, eradicating discrimination in the workplace has come to the forefront of law and media, especially with regard to sexual harassment. However, the courts in the United States have yet to determine to what extent, if at all, employment discrimination laws can protect employees who work for religious institutions and qualify as “ministers.” While the term “minister” brings to mind members of the clergy, who are surely included in the term, this classification could also implicate certain schoolteachers, music directors, nonprofit workers, and many other employees whose job responsibilities qualify them as ministers. Thus, quite a large part of the workforce has uncertain, if not completely zero, protection from employment discrimination laws. The reason for this lack of protection? The First Amendment.
Part II of this Comment describes the evolution of Title VII hostile environment claims with a focus on harassment law. Part III discusses both the formation of the ministerial exception out of the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and the Supreme Court's official recognition of the ministerial exception in Hosanna-Tabor. Part IV reviews and analyzes the cases making up the current circuit split. Part V proposes a framework for analyzing hostile environment claims by ministers against their religious employers that enables courts to discover instances involving purely secular acts of unlawful discrimination for which an employer should be held liable, regardless of religious affiliation. Finally, Part VI briefly concludes.
About the Authors
Winnie Johnson, J.D. candidate 2022, Tulane University Law School; B.B.A. 2019, Texas A&M University.
Citation
96 Tul. L. Rev. 193 (2021)